The judge who presided over Amanda Knox’s second murder conviction says he suffered over the verdict but that he and the jury agreed about her guilt in the death of British student Meredith Kercher.

Judge Alessandro Nencini said he agreed to be interviewed by Corriere della Sera newspaper because he knew the sentence would create a media storm.

Judge Nencini says the jury had come up with a motive that would be explained in the written explanation of the verdict, expected within three months. But he hinted at the conclusion, saying that up until 8:15pm on the night of the murder, Knox and her now ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito had other plans but that something changed.

He told Corriere: “If Amanda had gone to work, probably we wouldn’t be here.”

Meanwhile, Mr Sollecito says he wasn’t fleeing Italy when he drove to Austria while an appeals court deliberated his fate.

In an interview with US broadcaster NBC News broadcast yesterday, Mr Sollecito said he had been planning to take a trip outside Italy if acquitted, and turned back from Austria as soon as he learned he had been convicted a second time for the 2007 murder.

He said he checked into the first hotel once back in Italy because he was tired. Police found him there yesterday morning, and confiscated his passport and ID papers, as called for by the court.

Mr Sollecito told NBC: “I didn’t want to flee, or to get away because I actually went back.”